A educational way out of pain to free up unknown habits that add tension and stiffness to daily activities. YOU CAN CHANGE!

My client, Darrell (not real name) has had lower back pain for many years; and the other day when we were working together on postural habits and walking; he discovered that if he pushed into his foot too hard with excessive effort, his back pain flared up. So we explored how he could place each foot on the ground with “just enough” weight to keep balance and good posture and his back pain subsided. He used the term “efficiency in movement”.

Darrell went off feeling so empowered that he could now do something in his daily activities that would change the pattern he had been using for walking to a more “easeful” way to move that relieved his discomfort. He realized it was about practicing new ways of learning about his body and his movement.

A colleague had this statement about learning about our movement and I think it speaks to Darrell’s surprise! “The appropriate amount of surprise, at the right moment, can awaken curiosity and a sense of aliveness.”

Mia (not real name) attended the last workshops series on how to find our graceful, strong body. And she shared with us what she had discovered after the workshop we did on walking. She loves to walk her dog however, her right hip was always getting her attention because it was so painful.

When we started to look at how the freedom in her ankle related to the freedom in her hip; a light went off in her awareness and she could now make a choice on how she was walking and let her ankles be easy and her hip pain subsided. She said, “I know I will have to be more attentive to changing my patterns of walking. This is a practice I can explore on my own.

The next workshop series is coming up next Tuesday in Culpeper (11-12:30) and Thursday at White Flower Studio in Warrenton (1-2:30). Come see what you can discover about your movement to find grace, poise and postural balance.

BALANCE – an even distribution of weight so there can be suspension or poise to remain upright. I think of this when I pause and notice if my feet are on the ground and under the weight of my body. Can we consciously be aware of the balance of our bodies? Sunday morning pondering!

Percy and His Back By Jeremy Chance

Percy was a friend of mine, but he never tried Alexander Technique. “I don’t understand what you do”, he said, “and besides, my back is not too bad.” Then one day Percy’s back got bad. Really bad. He was in a lot of pain. The doctors recommended surgery and that’s when Percy finally called me: “Can you help with my back?” he pleaded. “It’s hurting all the time now.”

Percy was a clever guy, he was a manager of a post office and successful at his work. But right now, he could not pick up a suitcase, and sometimes it took him 10 minutes to get out of bed. We only did one lesson. And Percy’s back got better. Not immediately, it took time.

But Percy videoed my lesson, and for the next few months, he watched that video every morning. He practiced and practiced what I showed him, he thought about it every day, and watched his every move. I think I learnt more from Percy that he ever learnt for me.

Percy helped me realize that Alexander’s discovery is actually quite simple. You don’t need a university education to understand it. But that doesn’t mean it is easy. It takes a lot of practice. Often musicians make the best pupils, because they understand the importance of practice. You can also learn how to play a chord in one session, but to play that chord easily, and in the right way every time – you need to practice every day.

Most physical pain is a result of not co-operating with your body’s design. It’s like wearing your shoes on the wrong feet: you can still walk, but eventually your feet will hurt. because you are not cooperating with your shoe’s design. It’s was like that for Percy: he could get away with doing terrible things to his back for a long, long time. But then one day his back presented it’s bill: excruciating pain. So it was lucky for Percy that he knew a teacher of Alexander’s discovery!

Last time I heard, Percy was off on holidays but this time, he carried his own bags!